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Story:Kings of Strife/Part 11
Part Eleven There were only about two days of autumn left, but the air around Zeta Academy already had the chill of winter. The eastern coast of Inusia lay only miles away from Zeta, and from there the King’s Sea flowed unabated. Drafts from the sea flowed westward directly into Zeta, and helped the large school complex stay cool and relatively temperate, and the northern airflow from the Mirage Desert kept Zeta from growing as cold as Inusia’s northern coast did. The Academy was a large and old institution that had been in the same spot for centuries. The institution was old, but it was not outdated. Constant efforts to bolster the budget and appearances of the world’s largest and most powerful school gave the Academy an aesthetic of old melding with the new, an unnatural mix of modern with antiquity that birthed a new and completely unique environment. There was no place in the world quite like Zeta Academy. The Academy was built primarily on a hill, and the Shore of Lords and its cliffs were always visible from the north side. Domed towers and fenced courtyards spread about the expansive campus in seemingly unplanned order; urban sprawl had been a large contributor to the academy’s size. Buildings and dorms were tall here, short there; floors rose and rose without regard for decorum; balconies and horizontal extensions cut across the air and the lawns, and from the ground one could often not see the sky for the metallic behemoths that were the life-forms of the Academy. Its students were the most prestigious young adults of the nation, and the academy prided itself on being the first step to a successful Inusian’s adult life. It was too bad, then, that one of its premier students was not Inusian, and saw the entire nation as her mortal enemy. Nolstuvainia Sestrum left her classroom and walked along the balcony of a school building to her next class. Straight brown hair trailed down her shoulders and a singular textbook was tucked in the crook of her arm. She spoke to no one and no one spoke to her. She traveled through the unorthodox landscape without saying a word to anyone, and only looked upon her fellow Academy students with complete disdain. She didn’t have a class for another twenty minutes, so she decided to spend her time in one of the most peaceful, calming places in the Academy – the Skyloft. It didn’t take her long to arrive at her destination. Although the Academy was almost impossible to navigate in areas due to its haphazard construction, she had memorized every inch of it long before she arrived at the school. Here at one of the tallest peaks in Zeta was one of the school’s quietest areas. It consisted of a geometric shape carved into thin metal that jutted out into the sky, outlooking the sea. Rumor had it that there was once an observatory meant to be built here, but the plans fell through. Only a wide plateau of forgotten dreams existed here. She never had anyone bothering here. She crossed her legs and sat at the farthest edge of the loft and explored her thoughts. There was much for her to think about, usually. Memories of the past, dreams of the future. She had almost endless stores from which thoughts would flow. This day, however, all she could think about was her most recent discovery. She had somehow reinvigorated an ancient form of magic. The thought of it excited her. She hadn’t been able to sleep the same since discovering the magic art barely two weeks ago. New ways to harness it kept flooding her brain, blocking off all other thoughts of hatred and righteousness and vengeance. Without a word, she laid her hand in front of her and looked at it. Her lips moved softly as she started to mumble the words to an easy incantation, and her fingertips started to glow with power… “I didn’t think I’d ever find anyone else up here,” a male voice called out from behind her. She stood up, defenseless and vulnerable. “Who are you? What are you doing here?” “I’d ask you the same question, but I already know the answer. Partially, at least.” The man speaking to her was a fellow student; he wore the Zeta Academy male uniform of a well-fitting gray suit, navy blue shoes, and a white undershirt. A plain red skinny tie accentuated his outfit. “Nolstuvainia Sestrum, correct? President of the 3rd years?” She frowned. “Just call me Vainia. Unfortunately, I don’t think we’ve met before, Mr…?” “Turo. Turo Bainas.” The man walked towards the edge of the skyloft with his hands in his pockets, and his long black hair fell over his shoulders. He was relatively attractive, but Vainia didn’t feel much romantic feeling towards anyone. She had bigger things to worry about. “You’re right, we haven’t met. It’s just that most people on campus know who you are. You’re pretty famous.” Vainia turned towards the ocean view and crossed her arms. “I didn’t even campaign to be voted President. I was picked. Usually I don’t bother with such frivolous activities.” “Only the Queen of the campus could say such a thing!” “Who told you that name?!” Vainia walked harshly towards the man and grabbed his shirt. She was only five feet tall, and had to look up at the boy, but he was still visibly intimidated. “That’s… That’s just what they call you. Sorry! Sorry!” He began to sweat. Vainia sucked her teeth and let go of the boy’s shirt. He looked after her for a long moment, entranced by her figure. She was very short, but had long elegant hair, sharp features, and a curvaceous body. “Like I said. You’re famous!” Vainia gave another look to the coast as she gathered her book from the floor where she left it. “How did you find out about this place? Nobody else usually visits it.” Turo shrugged. “I’m skipping my next class and decided to wander around the campus. I probably won’t be able to find this place again. Hey, whats up with that nickname that pissed you off so much? It’s not an insult.” She said nothing. After a moment of silence, Vainia turned away and started walking down the skyloft’s platform. Turo did not follow her. She hoped he would make good on his promise never to return there – few other places in the Academy could offer her the same solitude and peace of mind other than the library, but once she entered there, she couldn’t stay for less than a few hours. The title bothered her because it preyed on her fear of being discovered. It whispered to her of a widespread knowledge for her true purpose at the school, a debunking of her theories, and an unraveling of her plans. That was the worst possible scenario. Nolstuvainia Sestrum truly was a queen – rather, she would be. She was the only child of King Mateulikus and Queen Varinamous of Mortis, and therefore the Crown Princess of Mortis. Her nation was not a powerful one. On the contrary, Mortis was the weakest nation in the world. It was once mighty, and its history sang of conqueror kings and armed usurpations. Bloodshed and warfare was a fickle art, however, and only 600 years after its inception, Mortis fell to an empire that would prove to be unbeatable. It fell to the nation of Inusia. Almost 1500 years had passed since then, though. It would be unreasonable to be angry with an entire nation for the actions of ancestors so far in the past. Vainia knew that, of course, and that was not why she resented every Inusian. It was the fact that the nation of Inusia could live with such squalor and richness while her nation lived under crippling poverty that fuiled her fire of hatred. She had been an only child. Her mother despised her father the king, as did her grandmother. She rarely got a chance to socialize with much of her family nor any others close to her age. The only interesting things she could do as a child and adolescent were read, take lessons, and tour her country. None of these options filled her with anything other than burning hatred. The country of Mortis was, in a word, ruined. It was once powerful and prosperous, but fell into ruin soon after its last true king, Vistaelus IV, perished at the hands of Inusian soldiers 1500 years ago. Over the next millennia, the nation fell into disarray. Bountiful fields eroded into rocks and cracks in the earth. Golden cities of stone crumbled into ruins of lost art that only the moon could look over with pleasure. Great men and their families of retainers fell into homeless veterans, wounded vagrants, and shattered vagabonds. Over a millennia of oppression, the greatness of Mortis fell into disarray. And Inusia only continued to prosper exponentially. Shorica, a large peninsula north of Mortis and west of Inusia, grew into its own as it took hold of the world’s naval economy thanks to its multitude of coastlines, seafood, and timber. Norzaven had mines beneath its tundras that allowed it to survive and trade. Nneoh far to the south was a tropical paradise. Otnak, a mountainous wasteland, at least had a long history and was a tourist trap. Even Shimura, which had been ruined and quarantined only 7 years after Vainia was born, had been a nation known for its vicious army. Only Mortis was left with nothing but bitter memories. These facts never left Vainia’s mind. She entered the classroom for her next class, Calligraphy, and frowned. She never enjoyed seeing Inusians who were content with their lives. She never had fun interacting with her fellow Zeta peers. If anything, she resented every moment she spent at this Academy. But she had endured this for the past three years, and was going to endure it for another two. She had to change Mortis’ fate, and in order to do that, she had to be the perfect conqueror. Strong. Wise. Clever. Wealthy. Charismatic. Popular. Powerful. Only in Zeta Academy, the world’s most premier facility for influential adults and politicians, could she improve herself so. It was a cruel twist of fate that made her most important objective in the middle of the nation she had sworn to destroy. The people here sickened her. Compared to the starving masses of her homeland, Inusians were downright putrid in their abundance of waste and nonchalance. They held no value of the blessings they had received by birth. They had no qualms with wasting their time worrying of earthly matters and pleasures. They cared not for the lives that others around the world would trade anything for. That was why Vainia vowed long, long ago that she would take away that which Inusians did not cherish. She would break down their order, hold the burden of her nation on her back and rise with it. She would cause the fall of the Inusian empire. As always, she thought of these plans and more as she sat through her boring Calligraphy class. Truthfully, this was not an important class for her, but three years of education at Zeta had done more for her than ever could be accomplished in Mortis’ outdated libraries. She had learned of history from an Inusian perspective, understood advanced mathematics and accounting, discovered the borderline useless arts and humanities which one should be aware of, and found that she had a powerful sword arm. Any amount of learning she obtained in a classroom setting, though, was nothing compared to what she had learned in a library by herself. Nothing. In fact, after sitting through an hour of her worthless class, Vainia decided to visit the library for a few hours. She couldn’t stay long – she had an appointment tonight. An operation. For the past few weeks, Vainia had been breaking into faculty member’s offices in the dead of night. These operations were meant as nothing more than reconnaissance. She had no real intention on moving forward with her rebellious plans until shortly before she graduated Zeta; there was still much to learn before she could take any sort of large scale action. To be a student at Zeta, one was relatively isolated and kept away from unbiased world news. Her late-night office invasions were simply a way to circumvent that and keep herself on top of current events. Once again she traversed the school’s outlandish infrastructure alone and silent. The library was on the ground floor in a large, dilapidated room that was vastly outdated compared to the rest of the Academy. It had large windows almost completely covered by foliage and shrubbery; not far from the library’s doors was a rose garden hidden beneath a tall building’s balconies. The library was largely dark and empty, just as Vainia liked it. She entered the building and flashed her student ID card to the old, half-asleep woman who manned the checkout desk. Traversing the twists, turns, and stairs of the library to the section she wanted to read at came like clockwork to Vainia by now. The book she had been reading was still open on the dusty table she had read it on. Nobody ever came into the library, let alone to the obscure corner she used to research. That was what she did here, most of all – research. History, theology, philosophy, military strategy… Zeta’s library had it all in spades, but it was all left here, unread. Unbothered. Knowledge was another thing Inusians took for granted, she found. Vainia hummed to herself idly as she turned the pages on the huge tome she had left on the table. Whisperings from the Great Dawn, Volume VIII. That was the name of the book, and true to its name, it spoke of legends, theorized tales, heroes, and weapons used from the time of the “Great Dawn” more than two thousand years ago. The book spoke of ancient Crystals, magical heroes and nine mystical kings who lived for two hundred years on a throne, and forces that bended the laws of reality to one’s own will. She'd always known it was all ficticious, and never doubted it until she had used some of that magic herself. Finally she returned to the page that had started all of this mess. There were so many questions – if this one section proved true, did the rest of the book also tell the truth? Was she the only one who had ever found such knowledge? – but none of them mattered if the magic was just a fluke. The illustrations danced off the page and the decrepit yellow pages teased at her eager fingertips. With absolute confidence in her solitude, Vainia looked for the Runic Art that she had initially manifested. Only a few commands had been memorized in her brain, but now that she was here in the library, it would be better and more safe to read from the book for an incantation. She began to speak. For this chapter, the words were in an ancient script that meant nothing to her. She had to deciper everything from the illustrations on the rune pages and assume which passages were incantations and which were descriptions. She spoke quietly and laid her hand out in front of her. This was the most basic skill, the power of the Runic Chains. Warm, righteous power flooded around her hand and forearm as she spoke the words as best she could. It was not the sound or meaning of the words, she had found, that mattered in summoning these runes. It was the will, the sheer power in the mind that forced the natural world to take note and listen to what she commanded. That was what the ancient Crystals had done, and that was how the Nine Morning Kings had done to the hourglass of time to halt their aging. That was what she did now. The air warmed, her breathing quickened, and light began to glow from around her fingertips. She concentrated, forcing old ways and principles to renew themselves before her, and she finished the incantation. Out of the light materialized ethereal chains around her fingers, wrapping around her arm and reaching out to the air in front of her. They listened to her mind and did her bidding. Vainia grabbed onto the chains, holding them and feeling their impossible weight. It would not be difficult to hold the chains and wield them as one would any real object, but what gave these basic objects such power was that they moved in accordance to her will. And her will was strong. She focused the chains and had them slowly move, twist, and multiply to grow longer. They crept ever so slowly towards a bookshelf directly in front of her. There was a book hanging off the shelf, and she wanted the chains to grip the book and bring it to her. They inched closer, ever so closer, and she was so close to succeeding… Distant footsteps began to ring through the dusty air and grew closer with every second. Vainia panicked and stood up from her chair, closing the colossal tome with a bit more force than was necessary. Dust kicked up into the air, causing her to cough, and the chains disappeared instantly. “Who goes there?” she demanded for the second time that day. Once again she heard the answer from the same man. “I think we both know the answer to that question, huh?” Turo Bainas turned a corner and walked into the corner Vainia had been practicing in, his jacket over his shoulder and his shirt sleeves rolled up to his elbow. He smiled sheepishly at Vainia’s perturbed expression. “Sorry. I didn’t mean to interrupt your studying or anything. I just knew you’d be here.” She frowned at him and crossed her arms. “Are you following me?” Turo rubbed the back of his hands and gave a noncommittal hand wave. “I wouldn’t say its all that… I just wanted to see you again, yeah?” “No.” “Ah! Come on, I’m not all that bad!” “You are.” Vainia turned away and picked up the textbook she had brought with her before flipping Whisperings from the Great Dawn on its back. It was best if he didn’t see and ask questions. It was a miracle she had stopped the rune magic before he saw anything, she told herself. Her heart was beating right through her heart, and it embarrassed her to think Turo might be able to hear how flustered she was. The man stepped closer and brushed his hand on Vainia’s arm. “Listen, do you really spend all your time in here? I didn’t really believe that little rumor, but…” “Don’t touch me!” She looked up to him with a glare and stunned the man. “I don’t want to see you ever again.” With that, the incognito princess briskly walked past Turo and started going towards the entrance of the library. “Geez! Isn’t that a little harsh?” Turo followed her at an equally brisk pace, made easier by how much longer his legs were than hers. The two walked step by step as they moved to exit the library. “Is my company really that bad? I just want to get to know you a little!” “Well, I don’t. Go be a truant somewhere far, far away from me.” Not only did he interrupt her, but the man was an Inusian. Vainia had no reason to exchange pleasantries with him. “Hey, listen to me!” Turo grabbed her arm, and Vainia roughly jerked it away before turning to him. The two were in the rose garden outside the library now, and only a faint beam of sunlight shone down to illuminate Vainia’s face. Turo stared at her and bit his lip. “Why are you so cold to everyone? I’m not a bad guy. What, do you not like dudes?” “I don’t like anyone,” she spat. “You’ve got a smart mouth. I can fix that,” Turo said with a smile. Vainia didn’t think her frown could grow any deeper. “I’ll say it so your philistine mind can understand. I don’t have time for you or any other syncophants. Come near me again and I’ll crush you beneath my heel. Got it?” Turo had nothing to say. “Good.” She turned briskly and disappeared within the Zeta landscape, her admirer rooted to his spot. By the time she returned to her dorm across the campus, night had fallen and the library incident was pushed to the back of her mind. There were more important things for her to bother with than love-struck boys, her own nightly goals one of them. She dropped her textbook on her bed, draped a common medical mask over her mouth and nose, and belted her personal rapier to her waist. All she needed for the operation was her disguise and her mind, of course, but it wouldn’t hurt to be prepared for the worst. At night, Zeta Academy was a completely different beast. The residential buildings and dorms were lit up by lights so bright, they appeared almost neon, and open windows were abundant everywhere. Outside of the residential area, though, tall and completely dark buildings dominated the entire atmosphere. To call the school a concrete prison would not be inaccurate. The faculty buildings at the western frontier of the campus were all that lit up the far side of the campus, and those were Vainia’s destination. It would be fairly easy for her to break into the buildings. She had long since stolen a master key from the inside of a councilor’s office she had entered on accident, and using it to infiltrate from otherwise closed routes was easier than easy. She made it a point to only snoop in rooms that had no lights on, and had a portable flashlight she could use to read and see what she was doing. Tonight, though, she decided to test herself by using the light from her runic chains to illuminate her surroundings. Tonight, she would advance herself just a bit further. High Councilor Vaelus would never know what had happened to his office when she left. There were only about two days left in autumn, but already the winter winds were blowing at Zeta Academy. ***** “You’re not supposed to be here! You’re supposed to be across the country right now!” The Crimson Death smiled and looked up from the broadsword in his hand. “What, you mean – chasing that thief? Oh don’t worry, I haven’t forgotten about that. But I’ve been on a… pilgrimage, of sorts. Thinking things over. Wondering what’s next for me. But I wanted a break from all that… This is a nice hobby of mine. And you and I have some history, don’t we? I always pay my debts.” “I – I don’t know what you’re talking about! Please, you don’t have to do this!” High Councilor Vaelus struggled in the ropes binding together his arms and legs, but was unable to budge or move from his position on the floor. Tears ran down his meaty face, and his eyes were red and squinting at the tall figure standing in front of him. His mistress lay on the floor next to him, staring with shocked eyes. Her arms and legs had been hacked off and her blood stained the plush carpet the both of them lay on. “Perhaps you’re right,” Gin Taoris mumbled as he stepped over the woman he had brutally killed and looked out the window to the Zeta Academy skyline. The man known as the Crimson Death lovingly held his bloody sword in his hand, the blood from its sharp edge freely trickling down his arm and onto his equally bright red coat. “I forget sometimes. But what’s always there is the hunger. The thirst. The urge.” Vaelus heaved and clenched his eyes shut. He had let himself look at his mistress in the eyes again. “Please! I don’t want to die like this!” “Nobody does,” growled the Crimson Death. “How did you even get in here? How did you know I would be here?!” Vaelus’ pants were still around his ankles and his cock, long since flaccid, was crusting over from his own deposited seed. The old Inusian councilor and member of the Zeta Academy executive board never thought he’d die in the same room he committed his affairs in. “It was easy, getting in here. Someone like me gets in anywhere.” The Crimson Death let the tip of his blade drop to the floor and rested his hand atop its hilt. “Yours was simply the first room I wanted to visit first. Anyone would have sufficed. I just had to sate my hunger.” “I’m on the top floor!” sobbed Vaelus. Taoris smiled and ran his free hand through his long, flowing red hair. “I like to be different. The hardest prey to find often screams the loudest.” He looked down at the obese man and nudged him with his armored boot. “That being said, you’re really quite boring, did you know that? A fat, corrupt cheater who wears a wedding ring and still fucks whores. Not to mention, you’re rich and Inusian, but probably don’t do shit for anyone like yourself. What, do you think you actually mean something in this world? I’m actually feeling like a good person, killing you here like this.” “Please, don’t kill me! I’ll buy you anything! Whores, land, power, freedom, anything! I help run the biggest school in the world! I can give you anything, just let me live!” Taoris tilted his head in amusement. “What if I want you to die?” Vaelus cried out in terror; Taoris laughed. “Oh don’t worry, it’ll come slowly. The torture is the best part, sometimes. I was going to flay you and slowly remove your organs to see how much of that fat you can lose before you die. Doesn’t that sound fun?” Vaelus, unsurprisingly, did not agree. He screamed again. The High Councilor was met with a cruel kick to the throat, to which he responded with hacking coughs and, eventually, sobbing vomit. “Shut up,” Taoris growled, his mood instantly dampening. “You might be a pig, but you don’t have to squeal like one before I even cut you open.” “Please! I don’t want to die here! Don’t do this! What do you want?” The Crimson Death stepped forward and swiftly shoved his broadsword right into High Councilor Vaelus’ left shoulder. It pierced right through to the carpet below, and the Councilor screamed once again. Following this, Taoris lifted up his sword, and up with it came Vaelus. The overweight man screamed further and wriggled as he slid down the long blade, his blood serving as lubricant for his body to shift down the weapon. Soon the two were face to face, and Taoris’ soulless blue eyes stared right into Vaelus’ brown ones. “I told you that I wanted to kill you. Those who must be repeated to either do not listen or are mentally incompetent. If I have to repeat myself… I will make you suffer.” Taoris let his free hand travel to the handle of the other broadsword on his back, and the tall man in red began to slowly pull it free from its bindings. He stopped and turned his head towards the doorway. Vaelus, shocked and confused, stopped his screaming for a second to whimper in agony. “Who is at your door?” whispered Taoris. “Wha… What?” With a flash of cold steel, Taoris ripped his second blade free from its sheath and slashed horizontally with it, instantly bisecting Vaelus below his waist. The man’s free legs slithered to the floor and vacated blood freely exploded onto the floor and Taoris’ lower body. Vaelus was not yet dead, but was in too much shock to scream any further. He looked at Taoris with widened eyes and could only manage to gasp and writhe about. The Crimson Death let his first sword lower, and Vaelus’ upper body slid off the blade just as easily as it had come on. The High Councilor’s soon-to-be corpse fell to the ground with a pathetic thud, and Taoris wasted no time in walking towards the closed door. “I will not repeat myself a second time. Now…” As he stabbed one blade into the hard wooden floor, Taoris grabbed the doorknob and flung it open. The hallway in front of him was dark and there was no sign of anyone ever standing out there. He knew his senses were not wrong. Fifteen years of endless killing, warmongering, and fighting had crafted the Crimson Death into a humanoid weapon, and the sounds of a fearful eavesdropper was one he could recognize anywhere. There had been someone listening, possibly even watching, as he had mutilated Vaelus and his mistress. That someone had to die. He stood there a while, listening and waiting for a signal to arrive. He didn’t have to wait long. The tap of a foot along a stair, the creak of an old railway being deliberately handled. Taoris smiled. The person listening couldn’t have discretely gotten far, and were still relatively close. His blades would taste another person’s blood this night. He started to hum as he pulled out a match and struck it against his sword. The object caught fire and he tossed it behind his back as he started out of the room and down the stairs. With both swords in his hands again and blood decorating his chest, all was as it should be. The crackling of Vaelus’ room burning to ashes prevented him from hearing any further, but the Crimson Death would not lose his prey now that he had their scent. They could not run. They could not hide. Another would die on Zeta Academy’s soil before the sun rose. Taoris would make sure of it. ...End of Part Eleven. <- Previous Page | Main Page | Next Page ->